Dad of woman feared drowned worried about her trip to Chicago

Chicago police divers have, at least temporarily, stopped searching for the body of a woman who fell into the Chicago River Monday morning. Lauren Li was a senior and honor student at the University of Minnesota.

Chicago police divers have, at least temporarily, stopped searching for the body of a woman who fell into the Chicago River Monday morning. Lauren Li was a senior and honor student at the University of Minnesota.

Juan Perez Jr.Tribune reporter

Ben Li was uneasy about his daughter driving to Chicago in January.

Lauren Li, an honors student at the University of Minnesota, was on break between semesters. Concerned that his daughter’s aging car might be unsafe in snow and ice, he lent his newer, four-wheel-drive Toyota pickup to her and her friends.

“I didn’t want her to go at first, but I just gave in.” Li said over the telephone. “Because I love her so much and I wanted her to be happy.”

“But it turned out so bad. Now that won’t matter at all,” he said.

Chicago police said Lauren Li ended up in the icy Chicago River in an effort to help her friend, Ken Hoang, after he fell into the water while trying to retrieve a dropped cell phone shortly after midnight on Monday.

Li is still missing and presumed dead. Another friend, Quoc-Viet Phan Hoang, who also fell into the river, survived, while Hoang, 26, died shortly after rescuers pulled him from the water near River Esplanade Park.

On Tuesday the Cook County medical examiner's office ruled Hoang drowned and that alcohol contributed to his death.

The police marine unit suspended its search for Li’s body early Tuesday afternoon as snow fell and temperatures dropped.

Phan Hoang, who was expected to be released from Presence Saint Joseph Hospital on Wednesday, issued a brief statement thanking the public for its prayers.

“I lost two good friends,” he said. “It’s not easy seeing your friend drift away and having one die in your arms. I have never felt so helpless in my life.”

According to a police report obtained by the Tribune, Ken Hoang was taking photos from the riverwalk when he dropped his cell phone onto the ice below. He climbed over a railing onto the ice but fell into the water. Li then dropped down onto the ice to rescue him but also slipped into the river. She yelled out for help and Phan Hoang also stepped onto the ice and fell into the water, police said.

With his daughter’s body still missing, Ben Li is waiting out the ordeal in a Chicago hotel.

“It’s even harder on her than it is on me, I think,” Li said of his wife, Louisa. “But I feel so hurt.”

“But I try to talk it out with my wife, try to find some comfort,” he said. “Like, maybe God wanted (Lauren) to just live to 21. She was very happy in her 21 years because we never pushed her and she achieved many things.”

Lauren Li was born in Burnsville, Minn., a southern suburb of the Twin Cities, her father said. She wanted to be a doctor but chose to study at the nearby University of Minnesota even though she had opportunities to go elsewhere.

“I think the reason she wanted to be in the Twin Cities was because most of her friends live here,” her father said. “She had more friends than I can imagine. She made an impact on the people around her.”

University officials said Li was a senior in the school’s College of Biological Sciences. She volunteered at a home care and hospice clinic in the Minneapolis area since September, providing companionship and playing the piano for patients and their families. In high school she helped lead the dance team.

“She was just so reliable and eager to help,” said Erin Goblirsch, the agency’s volunteer specialist. “I know that her patients were very shocked and touched when they heard the news.”

Many of Li’s friends also posted scores of tributes on social media websites after learning of her death.

“She wanted to do things right, by a higher standard. That’s just her nature,” her father said.

“Fortunately she did everything the right way, and we’re happy about that.”